Shenandoah 1864 by SGraham - FINISHED - Corel - Scale 1:50 - American Civil War-era Cutter

[@macbride]

Beautifully done Steve!  The way you inlaid (joggled?) those pieces below the transom looks really cool actually. Totally like they were planned that way :-)

Your scuppers give it a very realistic appearance, too.

Very, very nice!!!

 

 

Andy

[SGraham]

Thanks all, for the kind comments. I agree, Sam; something lighter in color would look good, especially since the walnut topsides are going to darken considerably when I oil them. Next step is sealing and staining.

 

Steve

[SGraham]

The work continues by drips and dribbles. Here's the contrasting wale (I think it's boxwood) above the ebony. The ebony was easier to bend.

 

Steve

[jct]

Very nice, I like the contrast a lot, the light band will set of the dark walnut well, can't wait to see it oiled up.  Nice job

J

[src]

Steve,

That looks great. Like J pointed out, it seperates the two dark woods nicely.

Sam

[SGraham]

Thanks J and Sam. I finished planking the deck today and got it sealed. I'm still deciding whether or not to give it a thinned coat of light stain.

 

I'm going to try to simulate treenails with filler after it dries. Is it best to oil/poly first and then do the treenails or vice versa? Or does it even matter?

 

Here are some pics of the finished deck.

 

Steve

 

[dgbot]

When using filler it is better I think to prep the deck. That way the deck will not get stained. Once trunnelled you then smooth and scrape the deck and refinish it.

David B

[src]

Steve, 

Are you going to use wood putty, wood filler or grain filler? Wood filler will dry and need to be sanded, that might be a problem with a sealed and possibly stained deck. You can stain and finish over wood filler after its sanded. Wood putty doesnt dry and is designed to be used after your clear coat is on.

 

Grain filler is a thin paste that you can tint to most any color you want. Its primarily used to fill the grain on open pored woods like walnut, cherry and mahogany. Its one of the trick finishers use to get a glass smooth finish on those woods. Colored it can be used to control the contrast between your base color on your wood and the grain color. As an example on my Enterprise, I wanted to pores to be closer to my base color so before I stained I applied a coat of tinted grain filler after a washcoat of shellac. That allowed me to control the overall look. 

 

For your tree nails, I think any of the above methods will work although you mentioned you have sealed already. If you use filler you will have to sand and you most likely will go through the sealer and have to seal again, most likely not a problem. I think your easiest rout might be to finish and then wood putty. You will probably have to re-drill/re-dimple before you putty. Grain filler is a bit of an art, Rockler is only a few miles from you, a trip there might be a good starting point if you want to play with that.

 

I think before you do anything you probably want to make a sample board first.

 

Sam

[SGraham]

Thanks for the quick replies David and Sam. I've used pore filler on guitars and such. That's great stuff. I wasn't thinking of using it on this build. I want a pretty subtle effect, maybe more like the wooden plugs they use on decks over nails and spikes. My idea was to use a natural colored wood filler--not putty, apply it in the holes a few at a time with a toothpick, and then scrape it off with a razor blade before it sets. It'll need a light scraping or sanding after it dries too, I'm sure. I've only applied sanding sealer to the deck as yet.

 

Do you think this sounds workable?

 

I just applied a light oak stain to the hull. I like how it looks but it's too dark for the deck. I think I'll merely oil the deck after treenailing. I like the kind of haphazard effect of the different colors of planks.

 

Steve

Edited May 4, 2014 by SGraham

[dgbot]

Should have no problem. However always make up a few test samples and try out the way you want to do it. That way you will know what the end resul will be.

DavidB

[SGraham]

Well, I got the deck drilled, filled, sanded back down, and resealed. I think I'm pretty happy with the "treenails." They're sort of large, but they aren't as obvious in person as they are in the photos. Thanks for the advice!

 

Steve

[dgbot]

Nice job. However if you go out on a wooden deck. You will see that the truunel can barely be seen.

David B

[SGraham]

Thanks David. Do you even use them on your models?

 

Steve

[dgbot]

At the scale I work at not very often. I am not a fan of maritime measles. I have seen many a model downed by this disease.

David B

[src]

Steve,

Your deck looks good, the variegated colors work well.

sam

[SGraham]

Thanks Sam! Thanks, also, Dave. Food for thought...

 

Steve

[jct]

the deck looks really good Steve, I  like the natural wood.

J

[SGraham]

I got a little more work done today on the cutter. I've begun installing the rail caps. I've got the two bow pieces installed. They are really wide; in fact, they're downright chubby. That's because with all the messing around I was doing earlier in the build, I made the bulwarks much thicker than they should have been. Oh well, another lesson learned. I'd better start keeping a "mistakes to avoid next time" notebook. They'll be somewhat narrower when they're finished since I'm not going to trim the outsides until they're all installed. Then I'll cut them as close to the side of the bulwarks as I can still leaving a bit of overhang. I'll be making each side out of three pieces of walnut and jointing them with scarph joints. I don't know how to cut a hooked scarph joint yet and have decided to leave that for the next build.

 

Here are the scarphs.

 

[SGraham]

The plans show a breasthook of sorts joining the two bow railcap pieces at the stem. So, I cut out a space for the breasthook and made a piece from the same walnut to fit the space, but with the grain running side to side. Next, I found a circle on a template that matched the inside radius nicely. I sanded this radius unto the back of the breasthook on the spindle sander. I had to cut a slanted notch down the front of the breasthook so it would accept the stem.Thanks for looking!

 

Steve

[SGraham]

I thought it would look kind of nice to bend a piece of wood and attach it to the inside face of the hook. I had a little left of the boxwood I made the wales from. My guitar side bender wouldn't take this tight of a curve, so I used a soldering iron. It took me a little while to get the scorch marks off. I think I'd like to add 3 bolt heads--one to each side of the curved piece and one in the middle. Any thoughts on how to do this?

 

Thanks so much for reading!

 

 

Steve

[dgbot]

Your joinery is getting better and better.

David B

[SGraham]

Hooray, progress! Thanks David. I appreciate that you take the time to comment helpfully on so many people's builds in spite of your own health situation. Noticed and appreciated, sir.

 

Steve

[jct]

Steve...this thing get sweeter all the time, you've shown you are a true wood master...kudos.  To your bolt head question, I've simulated them in my plastic model days by filing a brad head on six sides or 4, sounds tedious but with diamond file it just takes a few minutes, then just pre-drill and set with ca.  There is a firm that makes micro working hardware, I've never ordered from them but their stuff looks really cool.  Link attached.

J

http://www.scalehardware.com/

[SGraham]

Thanks for the kind words, J. Wow, that micro hardware is very cool. Thanks for the link. I just ordered some stuff.

 

Steve

[src]

Steve, that looks great!

The hooked scarf isnt really difficult. Like any joint its all in the layout. Take a look at this link. There is a picture about 1/2 way down, extend the line of the cheek/face to the end, then its just careful chisel work, no more difficult than what you have done already IMHO. Leave your points long and "sneak up" on them. 

http://www.diy-wood-boat.com/Joints.html

Sam

[SGraham]

Thanks Sam. That's a really helpful resource. Well, I might try a hooked scarph on the next joint down the railing. I'm getting better at sneaking up on the right shape. That breast hook took a lot of sneaking.

 

Steve

[Bindy]

That really does look so good Steve with every join just perfect, but the colour choices really work so well too!

 

When your book of mistakes to avoid next time goes into publication I will buy the first copy haha

[SGraham]

Thanks Bindy! You know, I was kidding when I wrote that, but a book of that sort would be pretty nice to have around.

 

Steve

[SGraham]

Got to work in the shipyard today since my Mother's Day shopping went smoother than I thought it would. The rail caps are officially installed. I chickened out on the hooked scarph joints--next build, I hope. I've got some paint touch up to do and some stain touch up on the stem. Thanks for looking!

 

Steve

Edited May 10, 2014 by SGraham

[jct]

Hey Steve,

Tree nails look excellent, your chose of woods and excellent craftsmanship are turning out one beautiful piece, you sure this is your first build!!   Nice job my man... Nice.

J